Fractal Array Antennas and Applications

Abstract

Modern celestial and other advanced wireless communication systems require feasible array antennas with reconfigurable multibeams, broadband, high end of coverage, high gain, less side-lobe level with wider side-lobe level angles, better signal-to-noise ratio and small in size than conventionally achievable. This has initiated array antenna research in different tracks, one of which is by using fractal array antennas. The investigation on fractal-shaped antennas is basically focused on two fundamental areas such as the analysis and design of fractal antenna elements and the application of fractal geometric technology to the design of array antennas. These recursively generated antennas provide new insights into the antenna properties due to their self-similar behaviour. Owing to the feasible geometric construction and advanced properties, fractal antennas find applications in advanced wireless communications, MIMO radars, satellite communications and space observations. This work concentrated here is primarily aimed on the design of fractal array antennas using concentric elliptical ring sub-array fractal geometric design methodology and the reduction of total number of antenna elements at higher expansion factors of both conventional and proposed fractal array antennas.